Jury convicts man in Allentown slaying case

March 30, 2007|By Debbie Garlicki and Arlene Martínez Of The Morning Call

A Lehigh County jury convicted Omar Powell of first-degree murder Thursday in a case that had gone unsolved for nearly 10 years.

Powell, 28, faces life in prison or the death penalty, which the jury will determine after the sentencing hearing that begins today.

Jurors deliberated more than 25 hours before reaching their verdict on Powell, who was charged last year in the death of Christine Kennedy, 38, of Allentown, who was shot in the head outside the LA Bar & Grill at Seventh and Allen streets in Allentown early on the morning of March 10, 1997.

It was one of the longest deliberations judges and lawyers could recall.

After the verdict was read, Kennedy's younger sister, Beata Stephenson, "took a deep breath and said, "Thank God,"' she said. "It's been very hard, especially raising her daughter. That'll be good for her, it'll make her happy."

Kennedy's daughter was 4 when her mother died, Stephenson said. "The kids pick on her because she has no mother and what they read in the paper, the things they say about her mother. Now they can stop."

Powell heard the outcome with little emotion except to repeatedly mouth -- "I didn't do it" -- to members of his family sitting in the courtroom.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Christie Bonesch said Powell had a motive to kill Kennedy, who was going to testify against him in court in a drug case.

She was pleased with the verdict and praised the jury for its diligence.

Defense lawyer Gavin Holihan contended there was no direct evidence to link Powell to the homicide and that most of the prosecution witnesses, who were prison inmates, had no credibility.

Holihan could not be reached for comment after the verdict.

Earlier Thursday, jurors were read back the testimony of prosecution witness Orlando Rodriguez, who was driving by the bar when he heard shots.

Rodriguez, who knew Kennedy, said he saw two men -- one tall and one shorter -- approaching Kennedy before he heard shots. He described what the men were wearing and the face of the taller one, who prosecutors allege was Powell.

During the trial, Powell testified he had sold drugs out of Kennedy's house but at the time of the shooting, he was with his girlfriend. His story was rebutted by two boyhood friends, one who claimed to have witnessed the shooting.

Before the Powell trial, the longest a jury had deliberated was 25 hours over four days in the case of Jeffrey Howorth, who was 17 when he shot his parents in their Lower Macungie Township home. In 1995, a jury found him not guilty by reason of insanity.